August 2, 2006
Going home! (but not today) We called the NICU to get an update at 10:00a and found that he had gone 24 hours on all mouth feeds, and his feeding tube was still out. The nurse said that he wouldn't be going home today. However, baring any unforseen setback, he will most likely be home before the end of the weekend. Got some errands to do today, I guess.
Ok, so after going in around noon and hearing all of the good news about how he was doing, everybody started talking about how there really wasn't any reason for him to stay. So he might be going home on Thursday.
And then dinner happens. We decided that since he is an entirely new person from a few days ago, Gretchen should try breast feeding again. Michael did a bang up job with it, guzzling down a full 20ml. His previous best attempt was 4ml, so this was a huge leap. Since we didn't want him to get so tired out he couldn't finish with a bottle, we stopped after 15 minutes. He was already needing a bit of coaxing to keep going.
Once he started the bottle he almost immediately coughed and choked, turning a very unpleasant shade of blue in the process. It's a good thing the nurse was with us at the time because she needed to get a little oxygen flowing. It took him a little time, but he finally regained his color and regrouped. After the short intermission he did finish another 30ml, just making his 50ml cut off (the amount he must eat to keep the feeding tube out).
Though he did finish, the nurse said that he very likely will need to stay in a bit longer. She was just making an educated guess, so he might come home tomorrow, but probably not.
Talk about ups and downs. We'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Isn't that just the way it is with kids.
Ok, so after going in around noon and hearing all of the good news about how he was doing, everybody started talking about how there really wasn't any reason for him to stay. So he might be going home on Thursday.
And then dinner happens. We decided that since he is an entirely new person from a few days ago, Gretchen should try breast feeding again. Michael did a bang up job with it, guzzling down a full 20ml. His previous best attempt was 4ml, so this was a huge leap. Since we didn't want him to get so tired out he couldn't finish with a bottle, we stopped after 15 minutes. He was already needing a bit of coaxing to keep going.
Once he started the bottle he almost immediately coughed and choked, turning a very unpleasant shade of blue in the process. It's a good thing the nurse was with us at the time because she needed to get a little oxygen flowing. It took him a little time, but he finally regained his color and regrouped. After the short intermission he did finish another 30ml, just making his 50ml cut off (the amount he must eat to keep the feeding tube out).
Though he did finish, the nurse said that he very likely will need to stay in a bit longer. She was just making an educated guess, so he might come home tomorrow, but probably not.
Talk about ups and downs. We'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Isn't that just the way it is with kids.
